School lip dub is fun for all at PHHS

Article |
April 19, 2012 - 12:44pm

PrairieHeights High School(PHHS) advanced television students had more than just Spring Break to look forward to at the end of March. The day before Spring Break was also their big day to shoot their second annual lip dub.

Last year the school won third place in a national competition for high school lip dubs. “It is basically a music video that includes as many people as possible and is shot all in one take. Once the music starts, the camera never stops,” commented PHTV Instructor Carmen Shepard. The students start planning about two weeks before the shoot and some students even postpone leaving early for Spring Break to stay for the shoot.

“I didn’t realize how much planning and organization went into the lip dub,” Carly Holsinger, a senior at PHHS said. “We had to organize where every classroom needed to be and at exactly what moment they left to go to their next assignment.”

Shepard remarked that it was harder this year because of the schedule change. “Last year, I had only one advanced class during the second semester. This year, I have one in the morning and one in the afternoon. We decided to combine forces and let one class complete the first half of the video while the other class directed the second half of the video. The challenge was doing this without stopping the camera. Both classes did a great job and it is so seamless, most people won’t know where the switch happens.” Nearly every classroom participated in the lip dub and students were credited with acting responsibly while playing their role.

Senior Kiska Carr loved the task and was grateful that everyone was up for the challenge. “It was exciting to plan how we were going to display all the different songs we incorporated,” she said. “The lip dub wouldn’t work if we weren’t planned and practiced or if the staff and students weren’t willing to cooperate. We really appreciate everyone who participated and helped in making this video a reality.”

“Students were given an idea of what to wear and any props to bring in, and most really came prepared to play their part,” said senior Reed Holcomb. The video featured dark rooms with strobes, the planetarium, a real life “Barbie Girl,” crazy teachers, crowd surfing, dancers, cheerleaders flipping, athletes piling into the hallway, and even cows hanging out in the school. It also starts out with a unique beginning that is a parody of the school’s farming community. “The students just wanted to have fun and create a little mini-movie beginning that portrayed the overdone, stereotypical farm student from Prairie Heights,” said Shepard. “The contrast is really what you see when we complete the lip dub (not the stereotype that is portrayed at the beginning).”

Junior MacKenna McGraw summed the whole experience up. “This event really unifies the school and makes all students a part of a really fun video,” she stated.

At this point, the competition they entered last year has not opened up a new contest this year. Once all of the technicalities are worked out, the lip dub should be visible on schooltube or youtube by searching for “PHTV lip dub 2012.”